Te Whare Tapa Whā is a holistic health and wellbeing model developed by Professor Mason Durie (1994) which shows the four dimensions of Māori health, Te taha hinengaro (the mind), Te taha wairua (spiritual health), Te taha tinana (physical health) and Te taha whānau (family health). By supporting all of our students to develop self-awareness, we aim to improve learner wellbeing and readiness to study.

Te Kotahitanga was a project that sought to improve the educational achievement of Māori students in mainstream schools (Bishop & Berryman, 2009). As part of the research around this project the characteristics of teachers that made a difference in the educational achievement of Māori students were identified and these have been drawn together into the Effective Teaching Profile. This Profile helps to inform professional learning needs and classroom strategies for UCOL academic staff, and is a key tool in our Te Atakura initiative.